Category: Legislation

Hawaii’s Chris Lee has been making a lot of moves against loot boxes in gaming, and now a series of four different lot box bills have been formally submitted to the US Senate and House of Representatives and are making their way through the system.

The four bills – two to the House and two to the Senate – both seek to protect minors from gambling-style practices as well as provide transparency to loot boxes. House Bill 2686 and Senate Bill 3024 would restrict the sale of any game that has loot boxes to anyone under the age of 21 in Hawaii, while House Bill 2727 and Senate Bill 3025 would require publishers to clearly label that a game has loot boxes as well as force them to disclose the odds receiving loot box rewards.

According to information found at tracking website LegiScan, most of the bills are being referred to the relevant government committees, with House Bill 2727 is scheduled to be heard by the House Consumer Protection and Commerce committee on Wednesday, February 14th at 2pm.

“I grew up playing games my whole life. I’ve watched firsthand the evolution of the industry from one that seeks to create new things to one that’s begun to exploit people, especially children, to maximize profit,” said Lee.

Our Thoughts

And so the grand waiting game begins. We’ll most certainly be curious whether or not this bill will earn traction and will begin the legislative push against game loot boxes, but we’ll be sure to keep our eyes on this story and provide updates as soon as we’re able to.